Branding as a Tool for Increasing Sales Volume of an Organization
CHAPTER ONE
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The main objective of this study is mainly to find out the impact of branding as a tool to increase sales volume of an organization, specifically the study intends to:
- Identify method of marketing branded products in an organization
- Find out different styles of branding used by organization
- Find out the impact of branding on the increase in sales volume of Nestle foods Nigeria Ltd.
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
PRODUCT BRANDING AND ITS IMPORTANCE
Many products offered to the market have to be branded, and branding is one of the elements in the product planning activities of a firm. It has to do with the efforts a firm makes in choosing, developing, projecting and establishing its own brand(s) of products. Branding has emerged as a top management priority in the last decades due to the growing realization that brands are one of the most valuable intangible assets that firms have. Companies are realizing the power of good branding (brand name) to create instant consumer recognition of the company‘s product. For example, in an average Supermarket, which stocks 15,000 to 17,000 items, the typical shopper passes by some 300 items per minute, and 53 percent of all purchases are made on impulse (Abrams, 2002). In this highly competitive environment, branding (brand name) may be the sellers‘ last chance to influence buyers. Many definitions of branding have been offered by different authors and a lot of reasons have also been deduced by different authorities as justifications for the adoption of branding as a marketing strategy. What is more, the popularity of a brand has often been said to be a direct push for sales turnover (Ogbuji, 2008: 247). Not minding the vagaries of definitions of branding, the fact still remains that it is an important aspect of every firms marketing activity that cannot be over looked. Branding has been said to be as important as a child‘s naming ceremony and as old as man/creation (Okpara 2002: 160). According to Kotler and Keller (2009: 276) a brand is thus a product or service whose dimensions differentiate it in some way from other products or services designed to satisfy the same need. The differences may be functional, rational, or tangible or intangible related to what the brand represent. It involves decisions that establish an identity for a product with the 32 goal of distinguishing it from competitors offering. Branding is a fixation of special and unique image or attribute to a particular product which makes it to be exceptional among other products in the eyes and minds of consumers. (Ehikwe 2005: 176).From the above definition of branding, it means that a brand has an added value to the physical product beyond the core product. These may be aesthetic, emotional, psychological and philosophical values that are embedded in the minds and hearts of consumers. Based on the definition, a brand is a product and the value-added which personifies it beyond the core product. Onah and Thomas (2004: 239) identified the various types of brands as manufacturer‘s brand and private brands. They posited that branding helps to facilitate the performance of the various other Marketing Management functions like New Product Introduction, Advertising and other Promotions, Pricing etc. It is strongly speculated that most times, what consumers buy is name and not quality or functionality or performance. Mccarthy and Perreault (1985) as captured in Anyanwu (1999: 160), commenting on branding said that it is the use of a name, term, symbol or design or a combination of these to identify a product.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
RESEARCH DESIGN
The researcher used descriptive research survey design in building up this project work the choice of this research design was considered appropriate because of its advantages of identifying attributes of a large population from a group of individuals. The design was suitable for the study as the study sought to branding as a tool for increasing sales volume of an organization
CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION ANALYSIS INTERPRETATION OF DATA
INTRODUCTION
Efforts will be made at this stage to present, analyze and interpret the data collected during the field survey. This presentation will be based on the responses from the completed questionnaires. The result of this exercise will be summarized in tabular forms for easy references and analysis. It will also show answers to questions relating to the research questions for this research study. The researcher employed simple percentage in the analysis.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Introduction
It is important to ascertain that the objective of this study was on branding as a tool for increasing sales volume of an organization. In the preceding chapter, the relevant data collected for this study were presented, critically analyzed and appropriate interpretation given. In this chapter, certain recommendations made which in the opinion of the researcher will be of benefits in addressing the challenges of branding as a tool for increasing sales volume of an organization
Summary
This study was on branding as a tool for increasing sales volume of an organization. Three objectives were raised which included: Identify method of marketing branded products in an organization, Find out different styles of branding used by organization an Find out the impact of branding on the increase in sales volume of Nestle foods Nigeria Ltd. In line with these objectives, two research hypotheses were formulated and two null hypotheses were posited. The total population for the study is 200 staff of Nestle Nig Ltd, Lagos. The researcher used questionnaires as the instrument for the data collection. Descriptive Survey research design was adopted for this study. A total of 133 respondents made civil servants, youths, married men and married women were used for the study. The data collected were presented in tables and analyzed using simple percentages and frequencies
Conclusion
Many studies have investigated into impact of branding through its aspects like brand name, logo, trademarks and brand awareness on company’s performance, this study has shown that branding (trademarks and brand awareness) significantly have long run positive impact on sales in Unilever Companies which create and effectively manage their brand stand to gain more sales in the long run and the focus should not be on immediate impact of branding but its long run impact. Product branding is increasingly important in the phase of increasing competition in product market.
Recommendation
- Nestle Nig Ltd (Lagos.) Limited should continue to improve its product brand to ensure sustainable increasing sales revenue Nestle Nig Ltd. Nestle Nig Ltdcould adopt trademarks or packaging best packaging strategies such as green packaging, tiered branding, feel-good factor, adding personality, speed to shelf and multisensory packaging.
- Nestle Nig Ltd should continue to use appropriate advertising medium to reach Nigerian market. The company should constantly consider TV stations and Radio stations with wider listeners in their advertising drive to reach more consumers for improved long run sales.
